Elvi

Helping strays find a place to stay

Elvi doesn’t just love animals — she donates her free time to protecting and nurturing them. So when she spends four days a week volunteering in the SPCA cat department, it truly is her passion that drives her. Elvi hates to see animals neglected and abused. By volunteering at the SPCA, not only is she helping stray cats stay off the streets, she is enabling families in our community to bring a loving pet into their home. To Elvi, her work provides these animals a second chance for a good life. Her contributions are greatly appreciated, not only by the adopting families but by her co-workers as well. We’re sure her pets — a guinea pig named Mojo and a cat named Morocco — would happily agree.

Joey

Hero with a handsaw

When you combine a man’s love of tools and a desire to help people in need, good things can happen. And that’s what happened when Hurricane Matthew brought a large tree limb down in Joey’s neighborhood. The property management company was unable to respond immediately due to a number of other maintenance emergencies. That’s all Joey, a landscaper, needed to hear. Joey brought out his trusty handsaw and cut the fallen tree limb into manageable pieces and neatly stacked them by the curb for pickup. More than just a workout, Joey’s willingness to help kept his neighbors from having to wait for a tree service company as well as removing a potential public safety hazard.

Creed

Helping others make good policy

One hallmark of compassion is putting the interests and well-being of others ahead of your own. For Creed, it was his concern for people with cerebral palsy, and others who suffer with spasticity and seizures, that motivated him to begin a petition with a goal of affecting policy in Virginia and beyond. The issue: to remove cannabis from the Schedule 1 controlled substance list. “I believe in the medical benefits of cannabis,” Creed says, “and I think scientists should be able to do research as effectively as possible, especially on the brains of people with cerebral palsy.” He has learned that cannabis can reconnect pathways in the brain — pathways that can be interrupted by seizures. He is currently obtaining signatures, with a goal of more than a thousand, for a petition he intends to send to the Virginia Senate and House of Representatives. “I’ll even send it to the President of the United States,” Creed says.

What makes Hope House different?

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Hope House Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization, provides services to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities exclusively in their own homes or apartments — regardless of how complex their disabilities may be. And we’re the only organization in Virginia to do so exclusively.

Skeptical? Initially, many parents and family members of the 120 people Hope House supports were, too. Their children had aged out of Hampton Roads’ special education system, and were ready for adult services and support. Many worried that cognitive limitations, mental illness, medical challenges, behavioral issues, or other conditions, such as autism, would make it impossible for their loved ones to live safely in their own apartments.

But talk to those people today, and they’ll tell you how their children have not just succeeded, but blossomed. That’s because Hope House offers more than a safe and secure environment. We offer privacy, choice, and the opportunity to pursue a meaningful life.

To find out if Hope House is right for your family member, please contact Susan Henderson, our Team Support Director, at 757.625.6161 x512 or email her directly. You may also visit our Medicaid Waiver Information Page to learn more about navigating Virginia’s Medicaid Waiver system.